What the CoinDesk team looked for are innovative ideas, convincing proposals or evidence of success, and talented, committed people. Moreover, the problems the projects were aiming to solve had to be real, and the remedies needed. They could not just be a crypto version of something that is adequately managed in traditional finance, for instance, or purely meant for speculation or fun.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/04/17/crypto-projects-to-watch-2023-introduction-and-list/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=headlines